Saakashvili demands unanimous decisions on constitution

TBILISI, DFWatch — President Mikheil Saakashvili calls on Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream coalition to make all constitutional amendments unanimous.

The governing Georgian Dream coalition wants to change the constitution, but is nine votes short of the necessary two third majority.

Saakashvili admitted Friday that the Georgian constitution needs improvements and said his National Movement party is ready to cooperate about such changes.

“When there is a necessity to implement changes, this should happen with all 150, and not with 100 votes,” he said.

Several parliamentarians have been called in for questioning in criminal cases lately, which Saakashvili characterized as an attempt to hold members of parliament from his UNM party hostage in order to force them to vote for Georgian Dream’s proposed constitutional amendments.

“We want cooperation. Let’s open a broad constitution discussion, work, and I am sure we will be able to achieve consensus with 150 votes, for the interests of the country, to avoid chaos, not to let the criminals win, to preserve the country and the political course and sovereignty,” he added.

The Georgian Dream coalition is initiating two constitutional changes, which are currently going through a process of public hearings, about whether to define the location of parliament, and about limiting the president’s power to dismiss government and extending it somewhat when it comes to dissolving parliament.